State v. Stahlnecker - CSC with minor conviction affirmed
In State v. Stahlnecker, decided March 1st, the S.C. Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Stahlnecker for first degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) with a minor and lewd act on a minor.
Issue preservation at trial - the Court held that the victim's statements to an interviewer at the hospital under 17-23-175 of the S.C. Code did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause, but that the defendant's remaining issues raised on appeal were not preserved. Although the defendant's attorney objected that the testimony violated his right to confrontation, he did not articulate as grounds for the objection 1) that it was impermissible hearsay; 2) that it was prejudicial because it conflicted with the victim's trial testimony; or 3) that the state failed to comply with section 17-23-175.
The defendant also objected to testimony from the mother regarding the victim's statements to her, but did not articulate that the victim's statement went beyond the time and place of the assault as provided in Rule 801(d)(1)(D), and so this argument was also waived on appeal. The Court does hold that the statement is admissible as an excited utterance, however.
The Court holds that statements made by the defendant to a guardian ad litem appointed by the family court are admissible, because 1) the guardian ad litem is not an agent of the state (because they are not an agent of the prosecution specifically; it does not make much sense to say that they are employed by DSS but that they are not an agent of the state); and 2) because the statements were made voluntarily anyway, after the guardian ad litem told the defendant not to talk about the sexual assault.
